Gambia mourns Dr. Sidi Cherno Jammeh, ‘the lighthouse that walked among us’  

In a tribute shared on Saturday, Gambian writer Hassan Gibril described Dr. Jammeh as “the lighthouse that walked among us” and “Kortoh Keh” — elder brother and friend. 

Dr. Jammeh’s journey began in the 1960s at Radio Gambia, where his commentary brought Gambian football to life for listeners across the country. He would later become a mentor to broadcasters including Sol Njie and Tijan Massaneh Ceesay.

He went on to earn advanced degrees and served for more than three decades at the World Bank. An authority on agricultural economics, poverty reduction, and public-private partnerships, Dr. Jammeh advised governments and institutions across Africa and beyond.

In Nigeria, he was widely known as “Baba Fadama” for designing and leading the Fadama II, Fadama III, and Fadama III Additional Financing projects — over $1 billion in community-driven agricultural programmes that became an international best practice. He worked in all 36 states and more than half of Nigeria’s 774 local government areas.

His work also took him to Senegal, Niger, Burkina Faso, Rwanda, Chad, and back home to The Gambia, where he served as Lead Consultant on the $20 million Gambia Commercial Agriculture and Value Chain Management Project and supported work with GAMWORKS.

Beyond projects, Dr. Jammeh was an institution builder. As Chairman of the World Bank-IMF African Society from 1996 to 2003, he represented 1,800 African professionals and advocated for diversity and advancement. In 1998 he convened the first Africa Business Forum at the Bretton Woods Institutions, bringing together 600 African business leaders.

He received the World Bank President’s Award, a Constituency for Africa honour, and a 2018 Lifetime Achievement Award for diversity and inclusion. He was later named Chairman Emeritus of the African Society.

Despite a career based in Virginia, USA, Gibril noted that Dr. Jammeh never let a year pass without contributing to The Gambia. Fluent in Mandingo, Wolof, English and French, he was described as a scholar-practitioner who could address a World Bank Board in the morning and sit with village elders in the afternoon.

“Strip away the titles and you found the same man: the debonair gentleman who never lost his Gambian warmth,” the tribute stated.

The tribute concluded with a call to honour his legacy through service, mentorship, and dignity. 

“Dr. Sidi Cherno Jammeh leaves behind more than a résumé. He leaves behind projects that feed, institutions that stand, ideas that endure, and people who remember,” Gibril wrote.

“May Allah grant our beloved Kortoh Keh the highest place in Jannatul Firdaus. The microphone is silent. The lighthouse has ascended. But the light remains.”